Tag Archives: personal training

The Power of Planning

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With college graduation approaching it reminds me of a time in my life where I had no real clue as to what I was going to do after I graduated. Up until this point I had a goal of being the first person in my family to graduate college. I was stoked that I had just finished an internship at the Cooper Fitness Center and was now ready to graduate and head into the real world. The only problem I was not sure if I wanted to work with athletes or wanted to do personal training. As you know by now I went the personal training route; however, when I first started I had no plan. It was not until I read Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that I started to plan. Also, I wrote a post awhile back titled “The Fastest Way to a Six Figure Income, which summarizes the study conducted by Harvard and showed the power of planning. I suggest you read it and see for yourself the remarkable results. Okay Dave, if planning is so important show me what I need to consider for my individual plan.

A.) Yearly – You need a plan for the entire year and the following should be included:

  1. desired annual income
  2. personal development
  3.  professional development

B.)Monthly

  1. needed monthly income
  2. planned events
  3. unplanned events
C.) Weekly
  1. needed weekly sessions
  2. adapt and overcome
D.) Daily
  1. DMO – Daily Method of Operation
  2. Consistency

The Importance of Personal/Professional Development

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I wrote the other day about how important it is to master the art of sales and I said I would share with you in more detail the 5 steps to successful selling that I adapted from Zig Ziglar. So let’s tackle the first step. The first to step to successful selling is the importance of Personal/Professional development. Okay, let’s get started.

A.) Personal

  1.  Phyiscal – are you keeping your end of the deal? What I mean are you practicing what you preach? I know sometimes trainers get burned out and the last thing they what to do after a session is workout, but remember your clients are watching to see if you are doing what you tell them to do.
  2. Mental – what type of books are reading? Are you staying around positive people? What type of thoughts are you thinking? It is important to feed your mind with positive thoughts and ideas.
  3. Spiritual – Up until a few years ago this is an area I let slip away but since my father’s passing a few years ago I have found my purpose in life. Remember each and everyone of us was put here for a purpose. Find your purpose and live it!  
  4. Financial – I added this point because as a trainer you will have fluctuations in your income from week to week and month to month, so it is important to understand the value in financial planning. Also, one thing for trainers to consider is what would you do if you were hurt or injured and could not train? Long Term Disability Insurance is something you should think about in case you were laid up for a long period of time do to an injury or illness.

B. Professional

  1.  Information – What sources are you getting your info from. Make sure it is a credible and reliable source if you are going to share it with clients.
  2. Experience – The hardest part initially for a trainer is gaining that experience. As you continue to grow you can use the experiences that you learned to enhance your credibility. 
  3. Knowledge – Technology and research has really changed the way we conduct personal training today. I tell all my trainers that the way we train today is totally different than we trained 10 years ago and it will be totally different 10 years from now. It is important to continue to grow and become an expert in your niche. As I tell interns and new trainers the best piece of advice I can give you is never stop learning! Invest in your knowledge on a daily basis!  

If you build it they will come!

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Have you seen the movie, “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Costner? Well, if not I highly recommended it because it is a classic. Now, the reason I mention this movie is because today is opening day for MLB. Every year my wife and I go to the Ball Park in Arlington to see the Texas Rangers on opening day. Today was a great day. Maybe a little cold, but the Rangers won 9-1 and it was their first win on opening day in over six years. I know, it is tough to cheer for a team that has only won a few playoff games in their entire existence as a team but opening day is a chance for a new season. A rebirth of sorts and what I want to talk to you today about is, today can be opening day for you and your training business.

You see, you do not have to wait until next year to start over and have a fresh year ahead of you to begin to change. Today, is an opportunity to change the way you have been approaching sales with your prospects. If you are tired of getting the same results then you need to change and I can help. How can I help? Well, I have been helping trainers build a solid training business for years now, and I can tell you that the days of high pressure sales are done. If you want to build a clientele that will pay you what you are worth then you need a system. A system that will have you determine which clients you want to work with and ones that are better left to someone else. A system in which every year you command more for your services. A system that will have client’s contacting you instead of you calling on them.

The game has changed and if you want to build a strong clientele then check out “Anatomy of Sales”. I personally guarantee you that if you do not increase your personal training I will give you your money back. However, I am confident that if you put the principles to work, you will start to build a clientele that will be with you for a long time. 

So in conclusion, I want to leave you with a scene from the movie “Field of Dreams”. At the end, James Earl Jones, tells Kevin Costner,” Ray, if you build it, they will come”, and although I am no James Earl Jones I can tell you, that if you take just one of my principles and put it to work for you they will come and you will realize your dreams!

Anatomy of Sales

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Do you believe you are selling yourself everyday regardless of your profession? I do, and I have written the book “Anatomy of Sales” to help fitness professionals and personal trainers realize that everyday a sale takes place within your organization or with prospects, and if you want to be successful in your career then you need to master the art of sales. 

So, what will you learn by reading this book?

  • How to close your prospect?
  • How to make people realize they need you?
  • Why they don’t sign up after you explained the benefits?
  • How to change ‘maybe’ to “YES – I’LL START TOMORROW!”
Also within its contents, you’ll learn:
  • How to trigger your prospects to make on-the-spot decisions to hire you.
  • Overcome fear of price rejection.
  • The 5 major reasons people will buy training sessions from you.
  • Setting SMART goals to create a realistic six-figure income.
  • How to build a ‘buzz’ about your fitness training services.
  • How to cherry-pick the right clients who WANT and NEED personal training.
  • Undiscovered new technologies that will help grow your business.
I can promise you that I wrote this book with the fitness professional in mind and I know that the last thing you want to be referred to as is a “Sales” person. So, if you want to learn how to master the art of sales through a new approach then check out my book.
Please let me know if you have any questions or want some more info about the book.
Coach Dave